RKCFE -Chapter 7 First Day of Work

After Jiang Erzhu left, Song Wei was about to head back to her room when Xu Laidi suddenly rushed over and blocked her path.

“Song Wei, what do you mean by this? Don’t you know us educated youths already have a bad relationship with the production brigade? You’d rather give your meat to some country bumpkin than share it with us. Do you look down on us? That’s really lacking in solidarity!”

Xu Laidi had an impulsive personality, but more than anything, she was simply craving the meat. As soon as she stepped forward, the others immediately wore expressions of anticipation, eager to watch the drama unfold.

Truth be told, quite a few of the educated youths agreed with what Xu Laidi had said.

The smile faded from Song Wei’s face.

“How do you have the nerve to say something so shameless? The meat is mine. I’ll give it to whoever I want. Since when do I need your permission? Move.”

Xu Laidi stubbornly remained in front of her.

“I’m not moving. Not unless you share the rest of the snake meat.”

She’s gone completely meat-crazy.

Li Juan spoke up.

“It’s already gone. There’s nothing left to share.”

“That’s impossible!”

Refusing to believe it, Xu Laidi barged into the small backyard behind Li Juan’s room. When she saw the empty clay pot, her eyes instantly turned red.

“Are you pigs? How could you eat that much? There were several pounds of meat! You’d rather give the leftovers to some country bumpkin than let us have any…”

Song Wei cut her off before she could finish.

“Stop calling people ‘country bumpkins.’ You’re barely in a better position yourself. At least they know how to farm and support themselves. You’re practically unable to feed yourself, so what gives you the right to look down on others? Workers and peasants are respected now. Are you saying you despise farmers?”

Xu Laidi’s face immediately went pale.

She definitely couldn’t admit to that. If word got out, she’d be publicly criticized.

“I didn’t! I never said that! You’re twisting my words!”

She suddenly looked frightened. No longer daring to argue over the snake meat, she merely shot Song Wei and Li Juan a vicious glare before hurrying back to the communal dormitory.

Just from Xu Laidi’s name, it was obvious she’d grown up in a family that valued sons over daughters. She herself had never been cherished. When she came to the countryside, she didn’t even have a single cent, so she couldn’t afford a private room.

“Comrade Song, don’t you think your words were a little too harsh? Comrade Xu didn’t mean anything by it.”

Just when Song Wei thought it was over, someone else stepped forward to make her presence known.

The voice was gentle and soft. Song Wei turned toward the speaker.

It was Bai Yunjiao.

“We all came to the countryside together. Meeting here is fate, and as educated youths we should stick together. Comrade Xu didn’t mean any harm with what she said. We don’t have any serious conflict with her, so naturally none of us would spread this around. Otherwise, if the villagers heard about it, they’d think all us educated youths are troublemakers.”

Song Wei almost laughed.

So now she’s implying that if this gets out, it must have been me because I’m the only one who had a conflict with Xu Laidi?

“Aren’t the villagers already convinced we’re troublemakers?”

Bai Yunjiao choked on her words.

“Besides, if it really gets out, it won’t be hard to find out how. If anyone dares frame me, I’ll take Xu Laidi and knock on every household’s door until we find out exactly who spread it.”

Bai Yunjiao bit her lip.

“That’s… that’s not what I meant…”

She looked as though she were on the verge of tears, appearing pitiful enough that anyone might think she’d been bullied.

Song Wei immediately grabbed Li Juan and dramatically retreated three large steps.

“Everyone saw that, right? I didn’t bully her. I didn’t even touch a single strand of her hair.”

Luo Yecheng, who had been about to step in and play the hero, froze speechless.

Bai Yunjiao was equally stunned. She clearly hadn’t expected such a reaction.

Song Wei looked at her curiously.

“You’re crying? Did any tears actually fall? Tell everyone clearly why you’re crying. Don’t let people misunderstand and think I hit you. Let me tell you, I’m not the kind of person who goes around hitting people for no reason.”

The other educated youths all fell silent.

Are you seriously saying that?

Weren’t you the one who slapped Liu Linlin before?

Luo Yecheng also remembered how she’d slapped him without hesitation the other day, and his face darkened.

Now Bai Yunjiao found herself in an awkward position.

If she cried, it would seem fake.

If she didn’t cry, she’d already acted wronged.

“I… you didn’t bully me.”

Even so, her voice still carried a note of grievance.

“Of course I didn’t. I only said a few words, and I didn’t even mention your name. How could that possibly count as bullying you? Only an idiot would voluntarily assume I was talking about them.”

“Unless…” Song Wei smiled brightly, revealing a row of neat white teeth.

“…someone was planning to spread what Xu Laidi said, then pin the blame on me afterward. Isn’t that right, Comrade Bai?”

Bai Yunjiao forced a stiff smile.

“…Mm.”

This time, she truly didn’t dare continue.

Song Wei waved her hand.

“Alright, everyone disperse. We’ve all got work tomorrow.”

Although the autumn harvest was over, there was still plenty to do.

The wheat and millet needed drying.

The corn had to be shelled.

And they still had to hurry and plant another crop of radishes and Chinese cabbage.

Except during the snowy days of winter, there was practically never any downtime in the countryside.

Having eaten her fill that day, Song Wei went to bed with her stomach pleasantly full. Even lying on the crude wooden bed, she slept wonderfully.

She even smiled in her dreams.

Early the next morning, just as dawn was breaking—around six o’clock—the production brigade’s gong rang out, signaling everyone to start work.

The veteran educated youths were already used to it.

The newcomers, however, dragged themselves reluctantly out of bed.

Song Wei, on the other hand, got up full of energy.

She went with Li Juan to receive her work assignment.

“Comrade Song.”

The team leader responsible for assigning jobs looked at the white bandage still wrapped around her head and frowned.

“You head over there and shell corn. It’s relatively easy work. One pile is worth five work points.”

A full day’s quota was worth ten work points—the amount an able-bodied adult man could usually complete after working hard all day.

The brigade leader of Ping’an Brigade was a smart man.

Originally, everyone had worked together in groups, but that only encouraged people to slack off.

After discussing the matter, he changed the system so that each person received an individual workload every day.

Finish your assigned task, and you earned the full ten work points.

Fail to finish, and your points would be awarded according to how much you completed.

The piles of corn had already been divided up beforehand.

Each person’s pile was assigned separately.

Even a five-point pile was enormous. An average adult would need half a day to finish one.

Because shelling corn was relatively easy, it was usually assigned to elderly villagers and older children, who would spend the whole day completing it.

Since Song Wei was considered injured, the team leader deliberately gave her this lighter assignment.

She accepted it without complaint.

Many people had already claimed their piles.

Some sat cross-legged on the ground to work.

Others had brought small stools from home.

Song Wei didn’t want to sit on the ground—not because she was picky about cleanliness, but because sitting that way too long made her backside ache and her legs go numb.

So she found a stone block that looked sturdy enough, carried it over, and set it beside her pile.

She greeted the people she knew, smiled politely at those she didn’t, put down the stone seat, and got to work.

“Comrade Song’s here!”

The moment she arrived, the village aunties all turned their attention toward her.

An elderly woman beside her even picked up her little stool and shuffled closer.

“Comrade Song, is your head feeling better?”

One look at the old woman’s eager, gossip-hungry expression, and Song Wei knew exactly what she wanted to ask.

Song Wei nodded.

“I was still a little dizzy yesterday, but it’s much better today.”

“I heard you only fell into the river by accident? That’s not what people were saying before.”

Clearly, everything Song Wei had explained on the ox cart yesterday had already spread throughout the village.